/Wonderfully put and I totally concur.
Let us all be proactive in support of breastfeeding for all our Mums as
we know how!
Cheers
Eva
Australia
/
On 2/9/2013 5:09 AM, Pamela Morrison wrote:
> Karleen
>
> Congratulations on writing another fine article! Although I'm aware
> of the storm of protest over use of the word "devastating", I, for
> one, approve your courage in telling it like it is when defending the
> use of human milk over formula.
>
> Actually, the truth is, I'm a little nervous about our collective
> concern about the need to be 100% politically correct, and dare I say
> it, even apologist when we write and speak and advocate publicly for
> breastfeeding/breastmilk-feeding. I think there's a world of
> difference in the approach we should take on the one hand with
> individual mothers struggling with the decision to abandon
> breastfeeding, or those who for whatever reason (the 0.1%) who
> physically "cannot" lactate, and on the other hand the opportunities
> we have in the public arena (ie generally) to
> speak/write/strategize/advocate about how to protect, promote and
> support breastfeeding.
>
> The former require, IMHO, exquisite empathy, sensitivity, caring and
> tact, for humane reasons, and in recognition that the individual
> mother does the best she possibly can in her particular, unique
> circumstances, for her own individual baby. I do believe that the
> original wisdom of working with one mother at a time, and meeting her
> where she's at, can't be improved upon. We could even apply the rule
> to one healthworker at a time, or one policy-maker at a time.
>
> However, public, generalized statements about the importance of
> breastfeeding, and the "devastating" differences between breastfeeding
> and _not_ breastfeeding (formula) need to unambiguously clear, so that
> no-one is in any doubt - this is a time to speak up. I don't think
> that, in writings which will be in the public domain, or in
> pronouncements which will be repeated or aired or printed over and
> over, it is helpful to be so tactful that it becomes difficult for the
> average reader/woman in the street to become confused about our
> message. I find it achingly disappointing to see a TV interview with
> someone who is one of our known big names put forward a publicly and
> deliberately "moderate" point of view in order not to offend those who
> so loudly defend mothers' rights to bottle-feed. It adds to the
> general misunderstanding that formula-feeding really doesn't matter,
> so why are some of us making such a fuss about it? And of course the
> media love it. And so do the very militant formula-feeders.
>
> Years ago, when breastfeeding was under serious threat because of the
> move to provide replacement feeding to the babies of HIV+ mothers on a
> global scale, a UNICEF person said to me "But you people are only
> speaking in whispers". And sure enough, formula-feeding was so
> heavily supported and actively promoted for about a decade, with truly
> "devastating" consequences that I wonder now whether breastfeeding
> rates will ever revert to what they were before this initiative was
> first dreamed up. Some of us attempted to engage with those who
> seemed to be ringing the changes and deliberately maintained a
> carefully moderate stance so as not to be labelled fanatics. It
> didn't help. Thousands of babies died. If we don't speak up - who will?
>
> Sure, as I've recently discovered, today's mom's lists and blogs can
> be merciless and very public in distorting our words and intentions
> out of all proportion, so it's vital for us to be accurate and
> scientific. But do we write and speak for them, or for the health of
> babies now and in the future? In telling it like it is, I think we're
> allowed to use the occasionally negative descriptive word to emphasize
> a point. In fact, it might be high time we did. The truth is that
> physiologically, nutritionally and psychologically breastfeeding
> really _does_ matter, and it might be our very restraint that
> perpetuates the myth that it doesn't. So words like "devastating" are
> good! We shouldn't be intimidated into muting our advocacy.
>
> Pamela Morrison IBCLC
> Rustington, England
>
>
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